OT III

In Scientology, Operating Thetan (OT) is a spiritual state above Clear. It is defined as "knowing and willing cause over life, thought, matter, energy, space and time (MEST)." According to religious scholar J. Gordon Melton, "[i]t's basically a variation of the Gnostic myth about souls falling into matter and the encumbrances that come with that".

Scientology doctrine defines OT as the "highest state there is." The OT is able to "control or operate thought, life, matter, energy, space, and time" whether he or she has a body and mind or not. The state of Operating Thetan is represented by a symbol consisting of the letters OT with the T inside the O and each of the points of the T ending at the O's circumference, evoking not only the level's initials but also the medieval O-T map representing the known world and, metaphorically, the entirety of the observable universe, over which a fully developed OT is believed to have immediate control. Operating Thetan is a state of godliness in Scientology teaching, a state “in which one is ‘at cause’ over the confines of matter, energy, space and time (MEST).”

After having removed one's own reactive mind and thus attaining the state of Clear, Scientologists may then go on to the OT levels. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Church claims that the OT is not dependent on the universe around him. Scientologists that are Operating Thetan claim that they have control over their lives and can "go exterior" from their bodies. The Church of Scientology claims that an OT is able to operate independently of his or her body. While there are 15 levels listed in Scientology teaching, the Church only offers eight.

According to L. Ron Hubbard, as scholar Donald A. Westbrook writes, the universe is in existence because of the “continual co-creation of omnipotent thetans” who work with each other in unison. Therefore, becoming an Operating Thetan as Scientology teaches “is to rediscover this true nature and recover unlimited spiritual potential, despite the encumbrances of the physical universe that were unwittingly created by thetans in the first place.”

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